The Navy says that the San Diego-based carrier Ronald Reagan has resumed relief operations off Japan after the ship and others in its strike group were repositioned to avoid radioactive fall-out from a nuclear power station crippled by last week's earthquake. (Full statement.)

A statement from Pacific Fleet also says that 17 members of the Reagan's air crew were exposed to low-level contamination from the Fukushina Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power plant.

But there hasn't been any news, through 11 a.m. today, confirming a New York Times report that said, "The Pentagon was expected to announce that the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, which is sailing in the Pacific, passed through a radioactive cloud from stricken nuclear reactors in Japan, causing crew members on deck to receive a month’s worth of radiation in about an hour, government officials said Sunday.

"The officials added that American helicopters flying missions about 60 miles north of the damaged reactors became coated with particulate radiation that had to be washed off."

The Navy first reported on Sunday that it had repositioned the Reagan after detecting low levels of contamination on 17 air crew members who flew earthquake relief missions near Japan's Fukushina Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power plant.

"The low level radioactivity was easily removed from affected personnel by washing with soap and water," the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement. "They were subsequently surveyed, and no further contamination was detected.

"The source of this airborne radioactivity is a radioactive plume released from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant. For perspective, the maximum potential radiation dose received by any ship’s force personnel aboard the ship when it passed through the area was less than the radiation exposure received from about one month of exposure to natural background radiation from sources such as rocks, soil, and the sun.

"The ship was operating at sea about 100 miles northeast of the power plant at the time. "

The Reagan and the San Diego-based destroyer Preble and the cruiser Chancellorsville are helping with relief operations off Honshu, Japan. The Reagan left Southern California on deployment on March 5.

Pacific Fleet says in a new statement released on Monday, "The USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group, to include the cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62), the destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88), and the combat support ship USNS Bridge (T-AOE 10), along with the guided-missile destroyers USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), USS McCampbell (DDG 85) and USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) continue operations off the east coast of Honshu. An additional destroyer, USS Mustin (DDG 89), is at sea south of the disaster site.

"7th Fleet repositioned its ships and aircraft away from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant yesterday after detecting low level contamination in the air and on its aircraft operating in the area. As a precautionary measure, U.S. 7th Fleet ships conducting disaster response operations in the area moved out of the downwind direction from the site. Relief operations have since resumed north of Sendai. We will watch the winds closely in the coming days and move our ships and aircraft as necessary to avoid the windline from Fukushima.